Riding a 19-point third quarter, the Live Oak girls basketball
team picked up its second win of the season by beating Monterey
43-30.
Morgan Hill – Riding a 19-point third quarter, the Live Oak girls basketball team picked up its second win of the season by beating Monterey 43-30.
“We were tired of getting beat up in the first half,” said Megan Gulla, who finished with 16 points.
Gulla led the charge for the Acorns in the third quarter scoring 14 points, including two 3-point shots.
“Megan can be on fire,” said coach Jeff Perkins. “She was a little upset at halftime about the fact that she was not getting her shots in.”
With the win, Live Oak improves to 2-6 overall.
The Acorns came out of the locker room at halftime trailing 15-14, then went on a 15-3 scoring run behind Gulla’s consecutive threes.
“We just clicked really well on offense,” Gulla said about the team’s performance in the third quarter.
In the third, the Acorns came down with eight rebounds to Monterey’s three along with forcing three turnovers.
Perkins said the team has been working on coming down with boards following the season opener against Gilroy where he said the rebounding was horrible.
“Rebounding is a big thing in practice,” Perkins said.
Although Monterey finished with eight points in the quarter, it was unable to recover from the 19 that Live Oak put up.
“We finally realized that we were capable of doing that and we kicked it up to play like we know how,” said Afshawn Chakamian.
Chakamian was one point shy of a double-double with nine points and 14 rebounds.
The Acorns came out flat to start the game, scoring four points in the first quarter and trailing 8-4.
In the second, the girls went on a 7-0 run to take a two-point lead, but they scored three points to close out the half.
Perkins said that in the first half, the team was having trouble controlling the ball, but in the second half it was able to take better control of the ball and make plays.
“In the first half we turned the ball over a lot,” Perkins said.
The Acorns were forced to cough the ball up six times in the first half and made several bad passes and ill-timed shots.
By the second half, the Acorns forced nine turnovers and turned out 29 points.
Perkins said the win is evidence that the girls are improving and their hard work is paying off.
“The girls work hard but they have not had much success,” Perkins said. “Everyday they are working hard and getting better. … We are headed in the right direction.”
Perkins added that he hopes the wins like the one against Monterey keep coming, especially when they start Blossom Valley Athletic League play Jan. 2.
Live Oak will next hit the court tonight on the road against Santa Teresa.
